Urashima Unlimited
by Omniskriba
Summary: With Keitaro's congenital geekiness treated, can the girls at Hinata Sou find serious enough fault in their manager to keep them from being as attracted to him physically as they are emotionally? Episode IV up!
1. Episode I

"Noriyasu-san"  
"Hai, Sensei"  
"What kind of person is Urashima-senpai"  
"Well… he's more or less like the rest of us, really. The folks here at Hinata Sou seem to get along with him well enough. Why do you ask"  
"Just curious, I guess"  
"Nervous"  
"Quite"  
"Just keep your eye on your cousin's ear then. You wouldn't want to hit a wrong chakra point letting your mind wander"  
"I… I suppose your right."

URASHIMA UNLIMITED By Omniskriba A fanfic based on Love Hina by Ken Akumatsu

Episode I: A Visitor Arrives! The Mystery Ear Surgery!

chapter begins

Apart from the gentle hush of the soft spring rain, there was silence in the Hinata Sou that afternoon. The manager's room has been bolted shut for the last three hours now and none of the Hinata girls felt too comfortable about what was being done to their manager.

Earlier this morning, shortly after Naru left for an errand downtown, Seta crashed into the Inn's courtyard, bringing along with him a young man in his late-teens or early-twenties claiming to be both Keitaro's cousin and family doctor. While it appear that the stranger and their manager did have some vague, distant semblance (both, at least, had the same color hair and wore glasses), even Kitsune voiced out her doubts, citing how the young man seemed too young to be a doctor and certainly too graceful and refined to be of any relation to their lecherous landlord. Motoko, however, was less enthused to contradict, mindful of Seta's formidable chi as well as their guest's even more volatile aura.

Nevertheless, it was still Seta's impeccably genial demeanor and his reputation as a generally good-hearted person that led them to trust him that time. His companion didn't seem like the type that would lie either – regardless of how farfetched his claim was, placed on an American accelerated degree program as a medical prodigy. They said they would be treating Keitaro of the inner-ear condition that was supposedly behind their manager's numerous "accidents". Perfectly clueless about what was going on exactly, Keitaro was easily coaxed by Seta to go under his "cousin's" treatment.

It has been three hours since the three men entered the manager's bedroom. The tension was thick enough to keep them from talking amongst themselves so they contented themselves with waiting.

xxx

Naru Narusegawa approached Hinata Sou tired, cold and wet. Kentaro's car was totalled in the edge of an eight-car pile-up a few blocks away and she had to walk all the way back to Hinata Sou, in the rain, carrying two bags bursting with groceries.

Upon entering the front door, she came across a tall young man with pony-tailed black hair wearing glasses. He flashed her a polite smile, bowed slightly and continued to exit as if their meeting had not actually happened. Naru was about to turn back to force an explaination out of him when Seta stepped out as well.

"Seta… san"  
"Ah, Naru-chan! We just came by to help Keitaro out with something. You might want to see him. He's resting in his room."

Naru gave him a puzzled look and he replied with nothing more than a "Ja ne" and his trademark smile. He walked passed her but Naru didn't care to extend their conversation. She went in without turning back and made her way into Keitaro's room. Haruka sat beside her sleeping nephew, his left ear dressed with a thick pillow of lightly blood-speckled bandages.

"What happened?" Naru asked, almost whispering as not to disturb the boy.  
"Seta dropped by and had one of my doctor relatives in here to treat Keitaro's congenital inner-ear condition. Apparently, they only found a proper treatment recently so they wanted to place Keitaro under the knife as soon as possible"  
"Keitaro has an inner ear condition?" Naru replied, taking a seat beside Kei's Oba-chan.  
"Ever since he was a child. That's actually why he's so clumsy all the time. I remember Seta also having that kind of condition back when we were younger. He went through something like this too but they botched it somehow. Seta might be a bit better on his feet now but you know how the guy drives, right?"

Naru nodded, watching Keitaro as the dim, amber light from out the window-blinds striped across his gentle features. She had forgotten how uncomfortable she felt or how tired she was or how she would make puddles on the floor sitting there, wet as she was. Keitaro still be more pathetic than she ever would and that sorry fact always did make her feel better about herself.

"You know, now that I thought about it, Seta and Keitaro did have a lot in common back when Seta was a teenager"  
"You're kidding!" Naru blurted out, smiling almost mockingly.  
"You'd think so, wouldn't you. I know my nephew really isn't as tall as Seta or as strong or as good a fighter as he is but neither was Seta back then. I used to love beating him up around campus during high school"  
"What happened?" Naru asked eagerly.  
"I guess Seta simply grew up"  
Naru looked at Haruka puzzledly. "What do you mean"  
"Hmm, let's see… how do I put it? Well, Seta used to be this goofy kid my friends and I loved poking fun of. Then he suddenly becomes this totally different guy and he's not that goofy kid anymore. I guess those girls who totally ignored him before really liked him and all but my friends and I – we didn't know what to do with him. He was just as nice a guy as he always was but there was something about him we never really did come into terms with"  
"You always liked Seta, didn't you"  
"Perhaps. I've never been sure which one, though."

xxx

"Hello Keitaro"  
There was a sensation of slight poking in his left ear when Keitaro decided to wake up. Kaolla's eyes looked down on him as she perched precariously on his head board.  
"Oh… um… Hello Su-chan. What time is it"  
"It's exactly nineteen minutes past nine"  
Keitaro just realized he's been out cold all afternoon. Looking around, he saw Shinobu enter the door with a bowl of steamy soup on a platter.  
"Shinobu-chan"  
"It's good to see you're awake now senpai"  
"Yeah! So Keitaro can play with the new toy I made for him today!"

Both Keitaro and Shinobu had their insides spasm slightly in hearing the words "new toy". This never did bode well for any of them – except for Kaolla who has a seemingly close disposition to chaos.

"New Toy?" Keitaro asked apprehensively.  
"Yes! Since Keitaro is going to transform into a man soon, I made him an exact copy of Nii-chan's Mol-mol guitar so he can use it when the red moon arrives"  
"What are you talking about, Su?" Shinobu asked, confused as heck. Keitaro himself was frozen in mid-sweatdrop.  
"I sensed it earlier. Well, me and Motoko did. Keitaro is releasing chi the same way we do in Mol-mol when it is time for us to grow up"  
"Motoko sensed it?" Keitaro asked, aware that if the samurai girl sensed it, there really must be something going on with him.  
"Yup! Although I still don't get it – I thought you can only do that if you're from Mol-mol"  
"Yeah… so did I…"

xxx

Steel met steel at the courtyard of an abandoned shrine, ringing in the darkness of a moonless night. On one end was Motoko, her warrior's garb flying violently in the wind. On the other was the doctor wearing a pair of faded jeans and a loose white t-shirst bearing the logo "Otakon 2003".

"I know you are not a Doctor so you might as well tell me the truth"  
"Miss Aoyama, I assure you. I'm a licensed neurologist. I have a residency in New York City. Keitaro's my grand-aunt's daughter's son. I'm his second degree cousin"  
"How old are you? Twenty one? Twenty two"  
"I'm nineteen"  
"You are not making yourself any more convincing, you know"  
"As much as I would want to tell you a convincing lie, Miss Aoyama, I'd rather tell you the absurd truth."

Motoko studied her opponent. She was reduced to conversing with him. Until then, he had taken a purely defensive stance but still – she was cut and bruised by the sheer force of his blocking. A powerful aura was lapping at him like a none-consuming flame, one reminiscent to Seta's chi, only more powerful and better focused. His eyes glowed from behind gilt-framed spectacles. He could read her every move.

"What kind of demon are you"  
"The kind that doesn't appreciate being forced to duel in the middle of the night when I finally get to watch the anime I'm missing in the States"  
Motoko disregarded his reply and called out again. "What did you do to Urashima"  
"I dealt with some blockage in his inner ear. It was impeding in his sense of balance"  
"You're lying! Urashima's chi has increased a hundredfold since this afternoon. If the alignment of his chakra points are uneven"  
"…Then Keitaro will be consumed by his own chi. Have you found the alignment less than perfect"  
"N… No… But that is beside the point"  
"Miss Aoyama. I guarantee you that this will all be to Keitaro's benefit. If you need to understand what kind of blockage it was that I removed from my cousin, perhaps you can pay Tsuriko a visit. Do ask her about the Enryo-no-Hanko Curse. Oh, and if you need to check on my credentials, I left my card with Haruka Oba-chan."

chapter ends

Author's note: The doctor is not a self-insert folks. There are a number of subtle and not-so-subtle cross-overs in this fic so keep an eye out for cameo guest appearances ôô. 


	2. Episode II

"Enryo no Hanko"  
"Hai. A mark of reppression"  
"Hmmm—the name itself is probably generic but the curse does sound familiar. And you say Urashima-san had it"  
"Hai, Onee-sama"  
"Without either of us detecting it"  
"Hai, Onee-sama"  
"I see. I am beginning to understand the nature of the curse although I will need to consult our family manuscripts for complete details. I will send for you, Motoko-chan, once I have found the manuscripts you need. Would you like more tea?"

URASHIMA UNLIMITED Episode II: Strangeness Noticed! Keitaro keeps his ground!

Begin Chapter

Naru couldn't place a finger on it but there was something terribly wrong with the way things have been going the last couple of days. Dinner didn't quite register too well on her palate that night – quite unfortunate, she thought, since Shinobu had prepared it as a feast of some sort. Something about the Hinata Sou weekly budget being a lot looser this week than usual.

In any case, Keitaro's operation a few days ago has been reduced to something of a non-event – pretty much in the same way everything else that happens in the Inn does over time. Their mild-mannered manager was out of his bandages in a day and was hardly shaken by what happened. Haruka even showed them clippings from American newspapers supporting her nephew-in-law's claims to accelerated schooling and an overseas medical practice.

Neither Naru nor Motoko, however, felt comfortable with this seemingly uneventful resolution. Sword-wielding neurologists do not routinely go about flying across oceans just to treat relatives with ear conditions—at least as far as contemporary reason was concerned. He left Japan as abruptly as he left so questioning him further wouldn't be possible. Then there was the fact that it was a neurologist, as opposed to an otologist who would have specialized in ears, who performed the surgery. Somehow, the fact that there was actually less hacking, tropical-motif cruise missiles and emotional trauma going around at Hinata Sou these last few days didn't seem to bode well in Naru's mind. She would take a bite on a slab of sashimi or pinch a glob of rice onto her mouth but it wasn't really eating as much as it was a display of courtesy on Shinobu's behalf.

"So, where's you scrounge up the dough?" Kitsune asked halfway into a bottle of sake.  
"Well, actually, I did some accounting this morning and it turns out we're not spending as much on repairs as we usually do. I added some of our savings to the food budget and here it is" Shinobu said smiling, first at Kitsune and then at Keitaro.  
"That's really nice, Shinobu-chan! This Donburi tastes great… as usual of course"  
Shinobu only blushed at her senpai's response.

For a moment there, Naru felt like everything that has been bothering her has spontaneously fallen in to place. Come to think of it—it has been quite some time since she last ruined a couple of fine shoji doors with a beaten-up manager flying clear through them.

Of the year and a half they've spent living together in Hinata Sou, Keitaro has shown himself completely unable of letting a single day go by without so much as a good thrashing. He hasn't seen the business side of a Naru Punch in four.

xxx

"Hiya Keitaro!"

Kaolla Su was not used to meeting anyone from the inn besides herself awake at five o'clock in the morning. She was usually the first one up and about around the grounds, playing seemingly pointless games in her pyjamas and certainly did not expect to see their manager, wearing a pair of jogging shorts and a plain white tee, as energetic during this time of the morning as she was.

"'Morning Su-chan"  
"Keitaro, what are you doing up so early"  
"Uhm… well, that dinner Shinobu prepared last night must have been really good. I felt so energized this morning so I took a jog out here."

Of course, young Kaolla was never one to expend too much effort to notice such a discrepancy in her daily routine so she did as she usually does to Keitaro first thing in the morning – she latched onto him and hugged his neck with her legs.

Or, at least, tried to. After hearing a sudden shaking of foliage from a short distance, Keitaro realized that Su had fallen onto the pavement.

"Su-chan?"

Su looked at her senpai puzzledly. "I usually launch myself from this trajectory point. I wonder what went wrong?" After a quick glance at Keitaro, she adjusted her jump and found her target

Again, there was a sound of rattling foliage although this time a disgruntled, sleepless Naru Narusegawa with a pair of binoculars hanging from her neck hurtled from the source of the sound. "Keitaro… you PERVERT!"

"Nani? Ah… AAAAAAH NARUSEGAWA… GOMEN NAS…ai? What the…"

An odd sensation – or, perhaps more clearly – an unsettlingly odd lack of sensation ran across Keitaro's cheek during that particular moment of contact. Of course, the Naru punch did not cease to feel hard as the impact coursed through his jaw and he did feel as though his face might suffer some temporary bruising. There was, however, something lacking in the experience that made it feel incomplete.

"Keitaro…"

"Y… yes Naru-chan?"

"You didn't fly."

xxx

Naru's room.  
"So… you're telling me that you've been waiting for Keitaro to slip up since last night so that you can try a Naru punch at him"  
"Mm…hm." Naru takes a punch at a floor-mounted punching bag.  
"And when he didn't, you decided to stalk Su because she usually gets Keitaro into spots like that herself"  
"Mm…hm." Naru takes another punch at the floor-mounted punching bag.  
"And when you did get to try the Naru Punch, he just took it"  
"Mm…hm…" Naru takes yet another punch at the floor-mounted punching bag.  
"Without flying"  
"Yes." Naru takes yet another punch at the floor-mounted punching bag. Punching bag flies to neighboring prefecturate.  
"Wow! Keitaro's starting to shape up into a real man! It's about time, don'tcha think?"

Mitsune's eyes sparkled bright with mischief. She knew Naru couldn't stand the fact that she can beat up their manager eighty ways to Sunday. Perhaps having Keitaro gain a little sense balance from that inner-ear operation wasn't such a bad thing after all. Maybe it would even get some gears turning around the old inn – and Mitsune has been craving for some excitement for some time.

Naru, on the other hand, didn't know what to make of the situation.

xxx

"Hmmm…" Shinobu stared at Keitaro's pant-sleeves long and hard, trying to trace where the fold stitching was.

"Hallo Shinobu! What are you doing"  
"Oh… just mending Urashima-senpai's pant-sleeves"  
"Pant-sleeves, is that yummy"  
With a wry smile, Shinobu held up the length of denim on her lap. Su only smiled back.  
"I don't know what happened but these pants seem to have shrunk in the wash. I… I noticed how Urashima-senpai's pants only go up to his ankles now so I decided to unstitch the sleeve folds, see"  
"Oh… but these haven't shrunk Shinobu"  
"Actually, I never thought denim did shrink in the wash"  
"Of course not! Keitaro is becoming like Nee-chan and Nii-sama"  
"What d…do you mean, Su"  
"I tried to climb Keitaro this morning like I usually do but I missed his shoulders by around an inch and a half. I couldn't have miscalculated my jump so that means Keitaro is taller"  
"Eh"  
xxx

"Motoko, I do believe I found the information you were looking for. Would you care to visit me here at Kyoto again some time next week? Please bring Urashima-kun along too. –Tsuriko"

Chapter Ends

Author's note: I promise, this will get somewhere next chapter. I would also wish to forewarn everybody that this will feature mature content later on. All those who believe I should do otherwise, speak now or forever hold your piece.

Shamelessly plugging my blog: omniskriba. And my Deviantart page: omniskriba. 


	3. Episode III

"Seta-san?"

"No, just a second—PAPA! THERE'S A REALLY OLD LADY ON THE PHONE. SHE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU OR SOMETHING!"

"Hai, Sara-chan. I'll pick it up on this line—hello?"

"Hello… Seta?"

"Ah! Haruka-chan! What can I do for you?"

"I'm calling about Keitaro."

"Keitaro? What seems to be the matter?"

"Look—I don't know how much I'm supposed to know about it but I was thinking—what did Kido-sensei do to Keitaro, exactly?"

"Ear surgery."

"That's what you told me, Seta."

"Don't you believe me, Haruka-chan?"

"Well, I supposed everything checked out back then. Kasumi used to tell me her son had that inner-ear defect. Then, a few weeks ago, she told me you and the doctor were coming over to fix Keitaro up."

"What's the matter then?"

"Is there any way any of this is related to that operation you had back in high school?"

"Hmmm—tell you what. Why don't we go out for dinner downtown tomorrow night and I'll tell you what I can."

URASHIMA UNLIMITED

Episode III: More Enigmas! The Investigation Goes Nowhere!

"Oi! Guys! Wait up!"

"Well if it isn't the Toudai student." Haitani replied, looking back and smirking as he and Shirai slowed down their paces to a halt.

"Hey Keitaro!"

It was a balmy Sunday afternoon in downtown Tokyo. The three friends had decided to meet up like they usually did back when all three of them were pushing for Toudai. Keitarou hardly hung out with them ever since he became the Hinata Sou manager and those times were even rarer now that he's a student again.

"I missed just hanging out like this." Shirai muttered as they walked through the shopping district. The two nodded in unison. Haitani seemed to have given up hope in getting into Tokyo University and has taken a low-paying eight-to-fiver at a nearby processing office. Only Shirai was left a ronin.

After quite some time of seemingly aimless walking and talking, it didn't take the bespectacled trio long until they've accumulated enough communal testosterone to act like the desperate, loveless geeks that they were. Exactly twenty-five minutes after Keitaro's arrival, Shirai and Haitani recieved their trademark urges of ambushing unsuspecting women with lewd invitations – urges promptly acted upon on a pretty young stranger with short black hair, a full bossom, and more curves than a telephone cord.

"Hi, perhaps you would be interested in a tall, svelte, intelligent young man—"

"Or maybe your interested in petite, plump and fun, perhaps?

"Oh would you knock it off you two!" Popped Kentaro out from a street corner. "Svelte? Pettite? You're even describing yourself as women now. I do believe the words your looking for is 'emaciated' and 'dwarven'. Let me handle—"

The woman had disappeared to everybody's disappointment.

"Hey Keitaro, you still—"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. But thanks for asking… Ah Haitani, you were saying something?"

Haitani, Shirai and Kentaro turned around and stared motionlessly at Keitaro for a full minute. Did that girl just pass through them and talked to Keitaro? Did she just smile at him and wave good-bye? Is that her number he's holding?

"Urashima?" Kentaro remarked, wide-eyed.

"Nani?" Keitaro answered, befuddled by the confused looks he was receiving.

"Well now! I see you're finally getting the idea."

Shirai and Haitani then shifted their gaze at Kentaro who was smirking complacently.

"W… what do you mean, Kentaro-san?" Keitaro replied, returning his smile nervously.

"Shaping up to Naru-chan, eh? Quite frankly, I never thought it could be done but here we are."

"What are you talking about?" Haitani said, nudging Kentaro before shifting back to Keitaro. "Oh… You're right."

"What? What's going on?" Shirai called out, even more confused now than he was earlier. Of course, Keitaro was the one baffled the most.

Kentaro scanned the Hinata Sou manager for a few seconds and stepped up to him. He then picked his auburn hair by the bangs and stretched it straight, forward towards Keitaro. The ends of his hair touched Keitaro at mid-forehead.

"Keitaro—" Shirai asked, finally getting the idea. "Aren't you supposed to be shorter than Sakata-san?"

"I think so." Keitaro replied, still none the wiser. Haitani then stepped beside Keitaro and traced the space between their heights with his right hand. He then stooped down to check the thickness of Keitaro's soles. Then he stood up again.

"Hmmm. I thought he looked different. I don't know how he pulled this off but Keitaro and I should be around the same height now – around 179 cm if I remember correctly."

Keitaro looked at Haitani and was surprised to catch his eyes at eye level. Even more surprisingly, He now had to tilt his head a couple of degrees lower to speak with Kentaro instead of the other way around.

"It's more than just the height too" Kentaro continued. "Shoulders a bit broader. Hair seems healthier. Longer too. Not hardly as soft-looking as you usually are, might I add? I do believe you're turning into a guy worthy of Naru, Urashima."

"Thank you… I guess."

"Then again" Kentaro leaned closer "I don't suppose you've developed the personality yet, have you?"

"Well…"

"Tell me, Urashima: ever since your sister Kanako left – have you two ever kissed again?"

"Actually…"

"Actually, I really didn't think so. Keitaro-san, a word of advice: you've finally got the looks of a half-decent gentleman. I certainly hope you don't waste it – especially if there's already someone you fancy a lot. If that isn't a wad of socks you're stuffing inside your pants, I suggest you start finding ways of getting to use it. Ja ne."

As Kentaro bid the trio farewell, Keitaro found himself eyes agape and frozen in the middle of the sidewalk, blushing profusely.

xxx

A large number of heavy-duty punching bags were spotted flying clear across Tokyo that afternoon. Kitsune and Mutsumi were getting ready to load the next one onto the bag hook when Naru, hair tied back tightly and forearms wrapped in ribbons of thick cloth, decided that she has proven her point – she hasn't lost her touch. The gaping hole on the shoji windows would have to vouch for that.

"Ara ara! That was very nice punching Naru-chan! Are you trying out for women's boxing?"

"No!" Naru replied rather sharply. "I was just checking to see if my punches have gotten weaker or something."

"Well everything seems to be in order." Kitsune said, arms akimbo. "What's the matter?"

"It's nothing!" Naru responded, somewhat defensively. Kitsune was hardly content with her answer.

"Well, as far as I know, nothing's never 'nothing' you know… unless that 'nothing' you're talking about is Keitaro."

"Oh dear. Where is Kei-kun, anyway?"

xxx

"Urashima."

"_Oh good kami!_ _It's the pretty swordsmaster-girl of Hinata Sou!_" said the voices in Shirai's and Haitani's heads. "_But no… speaking to her brings pain… brings so… much… pain… Must not… but so PRETTY!_"

"Motoko-chan! What are you doing out here?"

"I have no time to explain. We need to go to Kyoto right away!"

"Motoko-chan…"

"_But pain… so much PAIN… cuts and bruises… sword will hurt US, it will…_"

"Let's go, I'll explain on the train!"

"Hai!"

"_But the PRETTY_… hey, where'd they go?"

xxx

"Haruka-san?"

"You were saying something, Shinobu?"

"These photos from on the coffee table—"

"Oh, I'm sorry – I must've left them there when I got up… I'll get them for you."

"No, it's alright. I… I was cleaning up this spot anyway. I was just wondering who these people were."

"Well…" Haruka sighed out of what seemed like defeat. She then sat on a nearby couch and allowed Shinobu to look over the couch's shoulder. She picked up a photo. "That one's me."

"From high school, right?"

"Yes, this was our Junior Class. Those two were my friends Nodoka and Setsuna."

"And who's that little squirt over there with the glasses!" Popped Su out of nowhere, pointing at the rather surprised, rather disheveled little boy on the photo. The young Haruka had him clutched tightly by the shoulders, his head only going up to her already fulsome breasts. He had been pulled against his will into the picture although he seemed to belong there perfectly either way.

"That's Seta."

"Really?" Shinobu gasped. "I never knew you were older than Seta-san!"

"Not really." Haruka answered. "He was our classmate. This one's a photo of the clique I used to hang out with."

That couldn't have been right, Shinobu thought. While it did look like it was Seta on the photo, he must've been around twelve or thirteen when it was taken. Haruka, on the other hand, looked well into her late teens.

"Seta looked so cute!" Su remarked.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? I suppose we all did as well although we all thought he was kind of klutz."

"But that's different now, isn't it? Seta-san's so agile now. And so tall too. A lot of girls must've fallen for him once he grew!"

"I wouldn't deny that. By the time he reached the six-foot mark, half the girls in our school had serious thoughts about asking him out. Most of them did, actually." Haruka gave a wry smile. "I guess what really surprised us was how he just shot up like that."

"People shoot up like that all the time in Mol-mol!" Su cited matter-of-factly. "Nii-sama looked a lot like that before he decided to become a man!"

Haruka didn't even attempt to respond. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have Mol-mol genetics to explain away the puzzle that lingered in her head since high school.

That coming night however, that puzzle might just as well be solved.


	4. Episode IV

The train bound for Kyoto trampled loudly across the Japanese countryside, its thunderous beat mufled only by the air-tight walls of its own cabins. Neither Keitaro nor Motoko found the compulsion to speak.

URASHIMA UNLIMITED

Episode IV: Revelations! The Secret is Revealed!

Begin Chapter.

"Aren't you going to touch your soup?"

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Soup. Then we talk."

"Seta—"

It's been an awkward evening for Haruka and goodness knows she was never one to admit awkwardness. Nevertheless, there she was in the second fanciest restaurant in Tokyo's third fanciest district, sipping from a bowl of their most expensive soup while waiting for the fifth most expensive dish in the menu to arrive. The taste of the ground beef sent a slight shiver down her perfectly-postured spine. She used to take lunch-money from this guy back in _high school_.

"C'mon Haruka-chan. Do you really need to make that kind of face while enjoying your soup?" Seta said with a warm grin on his stubbly-shaven face.

"Watch it, Noriyasu or I'll send these noodles down your pants."

Seta replied with a hearty chuckle, amused at Haruka's little freudian slip.

"Thinking about my pants, are we?" Haruka felt the shiver explode into a full-blown fireworks display, blushing profusely. Had they been eating steak, she could have passed for gagging on the rib. "Regression isn't a very healthy defense mechanism, Haruka-chan."

Trying to regain her composture, Haruka insisted it upon herself that she didn't hear Seta's last two statements properly. She wasn't going to ask him to repeat them either.

xxx

"Let me get this straight. You're worried because Keitaro _didn't_ fly off when you punched him."

"H…Hai."

"I'm afraid I didn't get any of that, Naru." Mutsumi replied, slightly confused.

"Look, I didn't say I was worried about not being able to punch him away. It just felt so weird that I could punch him… _away_, you know?"

"I have to side with Mutsumi on this one, Naru. That last bit just flew right past me."

Naru sat tiredly on a bench, Kitsune and Mutsumi standing beside her still slightly dumbstruck.

xxx

"He was so Kawaii!"

"I told you Nii-sama was a little twerp when he was a kid!"

Seashells. Shark teeth. Pottery. Photographs. Rummaging through Kaolla's memento box felt like pawing through an anthropological sample crate, only without the obsessive-compulsive labeling or the constant fear of breaking something.

"How do you do it, though?"

"Do what, Shinobu?"

"Grow up into the Adult Su. Just like that. Y'know, when the red moon comes out or when Ranba comes?"

"Oh! That's a special Mol-molian genetic trait. We don't call it anything and we don't know a lot about it though—but we have folk back at home that's been studying about it."

"Does… does it feel weird?"

xxx

"Its wonderful that you arrive safely Motoko-chan. You too, Urashima-san."

"It's… it's a pleasure Tsuruko-san".

There was a light snow early that evening. The wintering sun had set sleepily through the red torii that stood nobly just outside the Shin Mei Ryu dojo and was replaced by the icy November moon.

"I hope Motoko already told you why we asked you to come here."

"I'm sorry but we didn't have the chance to—"

"Gomen Nee-sama! I did not know what to tell him" Motoko interjected.

"I suppose it is all right." Tusuruko sighed. The smell of served tea rose calmingly in the damp air of the receiving hall. It was dark, the hall was wide and it was empty.

"The tea smells really great, Tsuruko-san. This must be really rare tea. It's very, very—"

"Urashima!" Motoko spat under her breath. Tsuruko grinned at the short conflict as if she was watching over little children.

"Motoko, do you think it is appropriate to scold our guest when he is merely appreciating our hospitality?"

"Gomen nasai, Nee-sama"

Tsuruko then looked at Keitaro who seemed even more tense than usual. He has learned very well that the elder Aoyama's amiability was hardly a good indicator of her intentions. "Are you feeling well, Keitaro-san?"

"N…Never better." Keitaro replied nervously.

"It's funny you should say that." Tsuroko said, her eyes peering deep into him, as if baiting him. "Do you really?"

"'Really' what, Tsuruko-san?"

"Do you really feel that way, Keitaro-san? Better than you have _ever felt before_?"

Keitaro thought for a second. Did he? He tried to recall the last couple of days and it did seem that way to him, didn't it? He felt a lot more energetic lately. Stronger too. Even homework had a strange ease to them recently. And there was something about being around as tall as Haitani than made him feel better about himself. Kentaro seemed to have noticed the change, anyway.

xxx

"Would you get on with it, Seta?"

"With what?"

"The explanation. The ear surgery. Everything!"

"You haven't touched the rice yet."

"Look, 'Yasu!" Haruka growled, referring to Seta by his childhood nickname. "If you don't start telling your stupid story, I swear I'm leaving you to pay for all this!"

"But Haruka-chan" Seta replied, his demeanor unchanged. "I am paying for all of this."

"Oh…"

Haruka stared at Seta for a second, watching him as he just smiled there like he always used to whenever he gets the best of her, back when they were children. Seta, on the other hand, was pleased to see Haruka break her disaffected coolness. She hasn't been this annoyed with him in years.

"Okay then, if you really want to hear the story that badly."

xxx

"I do." Keitaro answered meekly.

Tsuruko sat back slightly, looking as if she had extracted a hefty block of pure gold from Keitaro's face. "May I also comment that you have never looked better as well."

"Nee-sama!" Motoko exclaimed, shocked at her sister's last comment.

"Now, now Motoko. You have noticed it too, have you not?"

Motoko turned away, trying to hide the tinge of crimson in her smooth, pale cheeks.

"Keitaro-san, I suppose you have felt a lot of pleasant changes in your body as well."

"H…Hai." It was Keitaro's turn to turn pink.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, Keitaro." Tsuruko responded, her words rolling down her subtly mischievous smile. I hope you understand that an attractive personality can only get you so far."

Motoko was stunned. Was her sister hitting on Keitaro?

"And these changes… they started roughly the same time you had your ear surgery, yes?"

"That's true… but how did you—"

xxx

Seta mouthed a piece of shrimp before he resumed talking. "Do you remember Keiichi and Kasumi's wedding back in 78?"

"Well, of course I do. He 'Ichi's my brother after all."

"Do you remember meeting a Mrs. Kusanagi in the ceremony."

"Yeah, I think so. She was my sister-in-law's cousin or aunt or something. Why?"

"Well, that Mrs. Kusanagi happens to be my aunt Kono. She was my mother's sister. She was Kasumi's grandmother's sister too."

"You mean to say you and Kasumi are related?"

"She's technically my neice. I think it's because her grandmother and my mother were born generations apart. My mother married a bit late too."

"That makes you Keitaro's grand-uncle, doesn't it?" Haruka taunted.

"I know. I found it funny myself." Seta replied, mouthing another piece of shrimp.

"But tell me, Seta. What the heck does that have to do with the ear surgery?"

Seta smiled behind the glass of water he was drinking from.

xxx

"How did I know about it? That will not be an important matter to discuss at this moment. Perhaps you will be more interested, however, in hearing that your case is of great interest with the Shin Mei Ryu."

"My case?"

Tsuruko nodded. "Tell me, Keitaro. Is it normal for a man to resume maturing physically after his allotted age of puberty?"

Keitaro shook his head.

"Do you find your recent developments as something resembling that kind of abnormal behavior?"

Keitaro nodded.

"Do you happen to know why?"

Keitaro tensed up once again. "I… I thought I might be going through it again."

"Come on, now. Not even you could be that lucky and you're a straight guy forced to become a manager of an all-girls dormitory. No Keitaro, I must affirm the obvious and say that the ear-surgery had everything to do with it?"

"But that was just for my balance, right? My mother used to tell me the reason I was so clumsy was because I had a delicate inner-ear condition. She told me our family doctors were looking for a way to treat it."

"Whose family was it that had those doctors, Keitaro?"

"Well, it wasn't my dad's family. None of the family doctors I've met were Urashimas. I guess they must have been mother's relatives."

xxx

"Remember that time they pulled me out of school for a week?"

Haruka fell silent. She had wanted to talk to him about that for years. Did he have to pick that evening? She only nodded, trying hard not to catch his eyes.

"Well, Keitaro just went through the exact same separation as I did."

"He what?"

"Well, maybe not the exact same one. It's become a bit better now—"

"Hold it, Seta. So you're trying to tell me that you and Keitaro—"

"—Had the exact same ear defect. It's true. It's genetic."

"Genetic? You're not exactly an Urashima, Seta." Haruka tried to dispel Seta with all the bits of logic she could possibly scrounge up.

"You surprise me, Haruka-chan. Genetics isn't purely paternal, right?"

Haruka hated her lapses. She could never keep herself together as well as she usually did when she stuck around with Seta for too long.

"Then what is it, Seta?"

"Mothers."

"What?"

"It's passed on by mothers to their sons. Sons pass the defect on to their daughters and so on. Apparently, fathers can't pass it on to their sons and daughters can't pass it on to their daughters. And daughters don't seem to be affected by the defect themselves so its generally a guy condition."

Haruka bit her lower lip. "And what exactly does this defect do?"

xxx

"It's a suppression seal, Keitaro-san."

"It's a what?"

"Your ear condition is, in actuality, a powerful chi-binding seal called the Enryo-no-Hanko. I would suppose that it was passed down to you by your mother from the maternal line that carried the seal with them."

"I don't understand. I tought it was some sort of lump or tumor in my ear canal or something."

"Actually, it was—but that was just how the seal manifested itself." Tsuruko then unravelled a scroll that she had hidden behind her. "According to the oldest records we have in the library, the Enryo-no-Hanko or Seal of Suppression has the ability to cut the chi-flow in a person's body just enough to keep the body alive without allowing it to exhibit its full potential. It is a very powerful seal and it cannot be performed during combat due to the elaborate ritual needed to cast it."

Keitaro paused for a second and asked "In that case, how could anyone have cast it on any of my ancestors?"

"Well…" Tsuruko drawled as she pulled out another scroll from behind her. "If our records of family lineages are correct, this brings us to the issue of a distant ancestor of yours. You are a student of Pacific Archeology, are you not?"

"I am."

"Then I suppose you would be familiar with the Mol-molian migrant clan that came to Japan sometime during the legendary Kage era."

"I…I've heard of the clan. Back at Mol-mol with Seta-san. They were supposed to be priests of the Mol-molian healing-deity Yakan Sese. They say that they evacuated Mol-mol because of the constant fighting – something about them punishing the other Mol-molians by not being there to heal them anymore."

"That is correct. The Yakan Sese clan belonged to the aristocratic Pure-haired Mol-molians while the current regent Ranba belongs to the once-enslaved Black-haired Mol-molians. Your friend Su must be the result of later inter-breeding. When they came to Japan, they adopted the name of the local healing deity – Yakushi the healing buddha."

"I guess the legendary ancestor you're talking about is Yakushi Kabuto – the white haired rogue medical ninja, am I right?"

"That is correct. You may have noticed that his first name, "Kabuto" is probably a namesake of his race. Kabuto helmets look a lot like turtles after all."

Keitaro nodded once again.

"Legend has it that he survived the legendary Wars of the Kages and was able to raise a family as a doctor here in Kyoto. How he was able to escape detection and persecution after what he had done during the wars is a mystery although the bigger mystery lies in the fact that none of his children were ever recorded to have inherited his bloodline ability."

"And this would be what exactly?"

"He has the ability to reconfigure the quality of his cells. With his chakra fully focused, he can make it so that all his cells are in perfect condition, optimizing his health and his appearance. He he had the potential to physically become a perfect person, so to speak."

Keitaro was starting to look flustered. He had no idea what do with the information that was being handed to him.

"Keitaro-san. We believe that he sealed himself. We do not know why he did but this is the only possible explaination. You may try searching for the answers yourself but that is the best help we can give you."

xxx

"So Keitaro will be like you then, Seta. Taller. Stronger. Better looking."

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

"What good has it brought any of us?"

"Did my changes have to benefit you too, Haruka-chan?"

Damn, she slipped again.

xxx

"Thank you, Tsuruko-san."

"Oh, do not thank me, Keitaro."

Keitaro only replied with a blank pause.

"The power the lies in your veins, recreating you as we speak, is part of a battle that is far older than your heritage. Will you take this—" With that, Tsuruko handed Keitaro a familiar black-sheathed sword.

"Nee-sama! That's the Hinata Sword!"

"Yes Motoko. This is the Demon Sword of Hinata Sou. Urashima will have to take it now."

"Why Tsuruko-san?"

"That sword is your birthright, Keitaro-san. From now on, I expect you to train very hard in wielding that cursed sword. Of course, I will give you time to reach your full physical potential, perhaps I would even let you enjoy being the Absolute Masculine for a while. But do be wary Keitaro-san. I am afraid I will have to kill you."

"Nee-sama!"

"Motoko-chan, I place Urashima's training under your charge. I have nothing more to tell you so I will leave you now. I have a variety show to watch."

Keitaro and Motoko were left sitting in the room, utterly confused with what had just transpired. A cold wind blew between them.

From another room, Tsuruko sighed. "This will certainly not be easy for anybody. Not for myself nor for Keitaro-san nor for Motoko and her friends. Until the day I have to face him, then, I will have to pray that my assumptions have been incorrect… or that the ancestors themselves have made a grave mistake."

Author's note: Hew! That was my longest chapter yet, I think. Please keep reviewing. It's good for the blood. Ask questions if you like – they sometimes hold sway over unaffixed plot lines.

To the Lost Hibiki: No, I got Nodoka and Setsuna from another Ken Akamatsu manga: "Negima!"

To White Angel Wings: I suppose the chronology is a bit screwed up. It occurs after the Kanako incident but deviates from the manga after that.

To SouryuofHeaven: Sorry for the mispelled Tsurukos. I'll get to fixing them on the earlier chapters soon.


	5. Interlude for Prelude

After nearly five years, I'm thinking of reviving and rewriting this story. Any takers still onboard? 


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